Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-09-16

for to help him or suthin'. Nor it's not all
tommyrot, neither, Mr.. Marks, for we've
heard them voices ourselves. Haven't we.
boysr
| "Ay, ay,' chorussed the men, waegine
their heads heard 'em ourselves. we
have, and more nor once"
But as he had been absent already far
too long from his post; and as it was be-
meath his dignity to handy arguments with
the crew, Mr.. Marks pooh-poohed the mat
ter and after warning them to keep an
| eye ON Dredge, and not TO dare TO hear any
more ghostly voices at their peril, went aft
| again TO the bridge.
When the second mate relieved him at 8
| o'clock he recounted briefly what had hap
pened, and advised Mr.. Bubble to keep a
sharp lookout on the fo'c'stle, and if any
| further connection occurred TO let the
Cap'n know at once. "Pll take trip
| for'ard before / turn in and see that alls
quiet" he added, as he left the bridge;
and if there's any more knocking down
to be done, FL be ready for it this time.n
Everything was quiet, however, except
the weather. The Valiant staggered along
on her course, creaking, throbbing, eroan-
- ioui pCllS Tie fOOkOuI man came
to serve his turn at the wheel, and the
other went for ard to the fo'csle head To-
wards II the wind lnlled down trifie, and
patch of moonlight notified the somber
clouds; but the sea was still running,
mountains high, and pitching tuns of water
into us fore and aft Mr.. Bubble had ouite
forgotten the incident which had occurred
in the chief mates watch, and he was be-
lcIt,l TO o,xn~ L.. L
startled out OF his drowsy complacency by
the sound of wailing cry, thin and dis
tant and agonized, which the wind seemed
| TO bring to his ears out of the storm and
the night. The man at the wheel had
heard 1t too, and turned frightened face
on the mate. Lord save us /" exclaimed
the man, it's that there voice again ~
The words We're barely spoken, when the
door OF the fo'csle was flung back and
crowd of figures swarmed out on deck.
Then the door OF the firemen's quarters
was opened, and three men came out with
q lamp. Seeing that something was amiss
the mate hurried down the companion
way to the cabin and aroused the skipper.
Captain Lawson was on deck promptly, and
after hearing Mr.. Rubble's huddled nara
tive, requested him to return to his duties
ON the bridge, and went for'ard himself
The men were all congregated under the
shelter of the weather bulwark, one or two
standing, the rest crouching down together
like lot of sheep They had turned out
in all sorts of haphazard clothing, and most
of them in bare feet. They were all sulkv
and scared and silent except one of the
firemen, who was relieving his feelings in
the choicest language of the stokehole.
The skipper was among them before they
were aware.
Now, my men," he demanded briskly.
whats all this nonsense about? Who
gave you orders to turn out and lie around
on the decks an this way? Where's the
bo'sun'?"
One or two drew in their legs timidly.
but nobody attempted to reply.
well ~ sharply Intercepted the skip
per. as the bo'sun among you? WHY
doesn't he answer? p"
Silence. +The light of the fireman's lamp
'glinted" on 4 small bright object in Cap
tain Lawson's hand. The sight of it
brought the carpenter to his senses, and he
shouted sulkily:
r" Bo'sun amt ere, Cap'n Lawson. He's
mad. And no wonder neither. 1t I'D
drive me mad myself if | was to pass an
other night in that there fo'c'sle Why,
1.-The ships 'aunted. There-listen to that =.
Again the faint desparing cry made it
self heard above the roar of the waves.
The wind seemed TO bring ii and the wind
swept IT away again. Its wierd agony
awakened something Of supers;it;ous
dread even in the shippers mind The
men covered closer together
Leaving his crew where they were. the
Captain made his way to the starboard
to'c'sle, and called the bosun tv name.
No answer. Then he entered the alley
way and walked up the length of it. Be-
hind the stove at the fur end he found the
bo'srn, huddled down on his launches, in
nothing but his sleeping shirt. Tie man
was staring, stark mad. His one eve was
bloodShot and wild and the other empty
pit glared up darkly. The skipper was
no coward, vet at the sight OF this
halt-nrked mailman he quaiied u little
and felt sorry that he had found him but
only for a moment, He stepped quickly
past the stove to lay hands on Dredce.
and as he did So once more that wailiny
voice bore through the storm its message
of infinite, helpless agony. At the sound
Dredge ieaped to his feet, and CRYING out
loudly, :" It's Bill as is callin' of me I'm
comm lad-fathers comm ~ burst out of
the frc'sle and away across the deck. and
was up on the lee bulwark and over the
side in fash The skipper made rush
for the door, to attempt to secure the fleet
ing figure, but i'll vain. Just for half
second the madman was visible in his i!ut-
| tering shirt on the reeling bulwark, and
then went over into the darkness and those
tumbling seas.
Mr.. Bubble saw the deed from the bridge,
and, springing to the telegraph, rang the
| ship to full stop; and then, whipping out
| his knife, ripped and sawed at the cords
with which the life-boat was dashed to the
bridge raj and dashing down the ladder
to the afterdeck, flung the belt overheard
from the stern. But, of course. it was
trouble thrown away. And even if boat
could have lived in such sea and found
men to man it, the bo'sun would have
drowned three times over before he could
have got one lowered and started out to
| find him in q waste of black and stormy
waters. After wallowing about some ten
minutes or SO for decency's sake, the skip
per rang the ship under steam again, and
we slowly drew away, leaving the body of
our bosun tossing somewhere in our wake.
Neither threats nor cajolery could get
the crew back into the fo'csle. The
skipper talked about s"mutiny ON the high
seas, and even vapored little with his
| pistol; but the men were stubborn and re-
fuse to bulge. Breakfast over, they came
aft in body while the Cap'n was on deck,
and respectfully but firmly demanded to be
set ashore at the nearest port. The ship was
| haunted, said they, and no good would come
| of sailing in er,..and sail in her they would
not. The Cap'n told them that he could clap
every manjack of them in Jail for three
weeks, TO which they replied that they
preferred Jail to a haunted vessel.
Well, like reasonable fellow, the skip
, per gave in, and we ran for Harwich there
| and then put the men ashore without q
! cent Of wages among them; wired details
to our owners; officially reported the
bo'sun's death; shipped fresh crew, and
were out again and fairly on our way inside
four hours
That was the last of the voice Neither
out nor home did we hear any more talk
about the ship being haunted. We made
prosperous run, and were docked again